#9 – Testing the Hypothesis, Part 2

Interview #1: The person I interviewed runs about once or twice a week, specifically outdoors because he really dislikes treadmills. He never focuses on his pace or is concerned about his pace because he just likes to run at whatever pace feels right for him at that point in time. The need to fix his pace has never occurred to him because he only goes for a run to get his cardio in. This individual uses the Apple Watch to track his distance and occasionally looks at his mile times when he finishes. He thinks this opportunity is interesting, but since he only “runs to run,” he wouldn’t spend money on it.
Interview #2: The person I interview enjoys to run a few times a week, switching off between indoors and outdoors. She doesn’t pay attention to her pace, and instead runs to clear her mind as a stress reliever. She says she doesn’t use any applications to help her because again, she runs for different purposes and distance/pace doesn’t matter to her. She thinks my opportunity is a cool idea, but it wouldn’t apply to runners like her.
Interview #3: The person I interviewed rarely runs because he likes to get his cardio in through other exercises. If he runs, it’s never by going on a run, but rather through playing sports that force him to run around during games such as basketball, soccer and tennis. He doesn’t focus on his pace, and he doesn’t use any apps when working out. My opportunity doesn’t apply to him.
Interview #4: The person I interviewed is training for her first half marathon, so she has been running very frequently on an average of five times a week. Oddly enough, she is not concerned with her pace right now. Her main objective is to finish the race feeling good, and not worrying about her time right now. She uses her Apple Watch to track her distance, but isn’t concerned too much with her pace. Although she is training based off of how she feels, she said that maybe in the future if she were to participate in another half marathon that she would use my applications because she would want to finish with a faster, more consistent time.
Interview #5: The person I interviewed runs at least three times a week outside. She focuses on her pace and uses her Garmin watch to track it. Although she thinks my opportunity is useful, she wouldn’t make the switch from her Garmin since she’s had it for so long and it does what it needs to do.

Conclusion: When first testing the hypothesis, I targeted runners who participated in sports or races, or those who I knew ran competitively in previous years. However, this time I focused on individuals who rarely run or run for leisure. These particular individuals fall outside of my boundary because they don’t care enough to track their pace. I learned that I have a very specific target market, and have to tailor my product towards those individuals. This need differs from another need due to lifestyle and purpose. If an individual does not care about maintaining their pace or doesn’t run, then my opportunity does not apply to them. Also, I learned that if runners are currently using other applications, it may be hard to convince them to make the switch if they’re getting the information that they need. For my opportunity, the underlying cause of the outsiders’ need is different than those who are inside the boundary. I have discovered that there are many different reasons to run and that’s what separates the two groups.

Inside the Boundary	Outside the Boundary
Athletes, competitive runners, and some true beginners	Non-runners or leisure runners
Pacing is an issue when running outside, and there are no applications to assist runners in maintain a consistent pace.	Supplementary applications are not used during the run or they are not worried/care about their pace.
Running inside is different than running outside. There are many variables when it comes to running, especially outside, that are very difficult to control and pacing is one of them. Pacing issues seem to happen due to things such as lifestyle, weather, and training problems.	People run for other reasons such as leisure, to feel good about themselves, or to help with stress relief, so pace isn’t important.